Sign in with
Sign up | Sign in
Your question

why are 254-bit Video Cards so EXPENSIVE!?!?!?

Tags:
  • Graphics
  • Graphics Cards
  • Geforce
  • Nvidia
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
Share
May 26, 2014 5:20:40 PM

Okay, so back in 2010 I purchased a 254-bit NVIDIA GeForce, GT9800pro. It has 512MB. I paid around $70 since it was already outdated. I thought to self, "in a few years, video cards would go down and I could upgrade". 4 years later, NOT THE CASE!

nowadays the only video cards I could buy for around $100 are 128-bit. BUT WHY!?!?!? for a 254-bit one with 2GB of Memorry I gotta ship out $200+ which really PISSES ME OFF! why aren't video cards going down? I could buy one with 128-bit, but feel like I would be going backwards.

I just don't understand why video cards aren't going down in price when there are some that are $500+ and already 3d cards are available. I DON'T GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More about : 254 bit video cards expensive

a b U Graphics card
May 26, 2014 5:49:05 PM

newer video card tech is more then just the bits. guess what years ago we had 3ghz cpu. guess what we are still at the same speeds but due to tech the cpus are a lot more powerfull. same thing for video cards search for toms hardware video card articals. theres a good one on myths about video cards with lots of good info.
a b U Graphics card
a b Î Nvidia
May 26, 2014 5:56:15 PM

The 9800GT being 256-bit was pointless; more of a marketing gimmick really, just like the laptop cards with 4GB of VRAM right now. It didn't come close to saturating that bandwidth.

The reason 256-bit cards aren't going down in price is because they're all high end cards. The reason 128-bit cards are still the standard for medium-grade rigs is because that's all that's necessary for the power those cards have.

A modern 128-bit card will still outperform a 256-bit 9800 by a wide margin.
It's the same reason an overclocked CPU from 5 years ago at 4Ghz will lose out to a new 3Ghz CPU. A lot more changes and improves than simply the bandwidth, and a 256-bit 9800 is not nearly as powerful as 256-bit would imply.
Related resources
May 26, 2014 6:02:04 PM

Rationale said:
The 9800GT being 254-bit was pointless; more of a marketing gimmick really, just like the laptop cards with 4GB of VRAM right now. It didn't come close to saturating that bandwidth.

The reason 254-bit cards aren't going down in price is because they're all high end cards. The reason 128-bit cards are still the standard for medium-grade rigs is because that's all that's necessary for the power those cards have.

A modern 128-bit card will still outperform a 256-bit 9800 by a wide margin.


very interesting.

another question for all of you guys.

I got 2 Geforce 254-bit 512MB cards (one I got for free from neighbor). now, I have seen new MOBOs are sold with 2 Video Card slots. say I purchase one, and use 2 of these cards with a nice new CPU that's like 3.5Ghz quad or maybe 8 core AMD. would that make any difference since I am using 2 cards? or do you think a single 128-bit card that is new with 2GB RAM will out perform the 2 I have. what's the point of using 2 Video cards at once?

I am not a hard core video gamer anymore. In fact, all I would be playing is Guildwars 2 IF I even have time to play it. so maybe 2-3 hours per week IF THAT. would be nice to be able to go full settings...
a b U Graphics card
a b Î Nvidia
May 26, 2014 6:26:16 PM

purple buzz said:
Rationale said:
The 9800GT being 254-bit was pointless; more of a marketing gimmick really, just like the laptop cards with 4GB of VRAM right now. It didn't come close to saturating that bandwidth.

The reason 254-bit cards aren't going down in price is because they're all high end cards. The reason 128-bit cards are still the standard for medium-grade rigs is because that's all that's necessary for the power those cards have.

A modern 128-bit card will still outperform a 256-bit 9800 by a wide margin.


very interesting.

another question for all of you guys.

I got 2 Geforce 254-bit 512MB cards (one I got for free from neighbor). now, I have seen new MOBOs are sold with 2 Video Card slots. say I purchase one, and use 2 of these cards with a nice new CPU that's like 3.5Ghz quad or maybe 8 core AMD. would that make any difference since I am using 2 cards? or do you think a single 128-bit card that is new with 2GB RAM will out perform the 2 I have. what's the point of using 2 Video cards at once?

I am not a hard core video gamer anymore. In fact, all I would be playing is Guildwars 2 IF I even have time to play it. so maybe 2-3 hours per week IF THAT. would be nice to be able to go full settings...


Well, for Guild Wars 2 you don't want an 8-core AMD FX. Like most MMOs, it runs best on a fast dual or quad intel CPU. Like the i5-4460 or the i3-4360. MMOs generally optimize for fewer cores. Why, I'm not sure. Could be any number of reasons. Maybe they do it so their games remain playable on laptop CPUs to keep their server populations high. Maybe running so many people online only works on fewer fast cores. Maybe trying to multithread the games increases development time too much. Idk. But primarily playing an MMO, even a dual core i3 will run faster than most AMD CPUs.

As for using 2 cards... It's hit or miss. In the best case scenario, it can increase your performance 80-90%. In the worst case scenario it runs even worse than just 1 of the cards. It mostly depends on whether the developer of the game goes to through the work of making it run well with SLI.
!